Printing apparatus

Abstract

To provide a printing apparatus that does not degrade the printing quality even when reciprocating shifts of a film-shaped medium are continued, an ink ribbon 41 that is the film-shaped medium is laid between a supply spool 43 and a wind-up spool 44 with regions used in printing on a single printing medium formed continuously in the longitudinal direction. A counter counts the number of times an unused region in the ink ribbon 41 located in a predetermined position between the supply spool 43 and the wind-up spool 44 reciprocates and shifts between the supply spool 43 and the wind-up spool 44 , and when the number of times reaches the predetermined number, the wind-up spool 44 is driven to shift the region in the wind-up direction from the printing position.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A printing apparatus that performs printing using a film-shaped medium formed in the shape of a roll where regions used in printing on a single recording medium are continued in a longitudinal direction, comprising:
 a supply section around which a portion of a printing unused region of the film-shaped medium is wound; 
 a wind-up section around which a portion of a printing used region of the film-shaped medium is wound; and 
 a detection section that detects the number of feeding times that the printing unused region located in a predetermined position between the supply section and the wind-up section reciprocates and shifts between the supply section and the wind-up section, 
 wherein when the number of feeding times reaches a predetermined number, the wind-up section is driven to shift the printing unused region in a wind-up direction from the printing position. 
 
     
     
       2. The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein when reciprocating shifts of the printing unused region reach the predetermined number of times, the region and at least one of the regions continued to the region on the supply section side are shifted concurrently in the wind-up direction. 
     
     
       3. The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a monitor region is set on the printing unused region located in the printing position and at least one of the regions or more continued to the region on the supply section side, and the monitor region, where it is detected by the detection section that the number of feeding times reaches the predetermined number, is shifted in the wind-up direction. 
     
     
       4. The printing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein when the detection section detects that the number of feeding times of the monitor region located in the printing position reaches the predetermined number, a beforehand determined number of monitor regions continued to the monitor region are shifted in the wind-up direction irrespective of whether or not the number of feeding times of each of the regions reaches the predetermined number. 
     
     
       5. The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the film-shaped medium is an ink ribbon coated with ink used in printing on a single recording medium for each region. 
     
     
       6. The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the film-shaped medium is a transfer film to print an image on a single recording medium after printing the image on the region with ink applied to the ink ribbon.